CHAPTER 18

Get Your Move On

Congratulations! You’ve decided to pursue a Patchwork career. Now it’s time to set up shop. This is the exciting phase of establishing your business in concrete terms, and it includes establishing a workspace, naming your business, setting up a phone line, selecting a business structure, and more. This is that moment when you sit down and get to work putting systems in place to make everything else possible. It’s a time full of excitement, adrenaline, steep learning curves, and sweet release from your 9-to-5 world.

Journaling Your Journey

Before you get too far into the setup work, you may want to begin journaling your experiences—both to help you process everything and to serve as a record of your progress that you can look back on over time. Here are some excerpts from my journal during those first few days of setting up shop at my home office:

Well, today is Day One of my adventure into self-employment! I hope that I can really make a go of this. I have an amazing chance to change my career path, and I want to do it!

What a great day! I’m really getting things done, and it feels amazing—freeing!

Today is even more exciting than yesterday! So many new ideas are rushing through my mind. I am reading every book that I can get my hands on, and the ideas I came in with seem more and more possible. I’m starting to develop action plans and lists, which is my personal key to success in any work environment. Progress!

It’s the end of the first week of working for myself. I feel like this is the right direction for me. Do what you love, and the money will follow, right? Off I go into the world of self-employment! This IS going to work—I can feel it!

On that first day in my home office, when I took the first steps toward building my Patchwork business, I remember the excitement and the long to-do list that appeared the moment my fingers hit the keyboard. I was off and running in a flash. For me, the number of items on my to-do list was invigorating! However, if all of the tasks that lay ahead do the opposite for you—if they leave you reeling—then take these important factors into consideration before you become too overwhelmed:

• You don’t have to figure it all out right away.
• You can purchase many reasonably priced tools to make many of your most complex tasks (accounting, for example) very manageable.
• Many federal, state, and local small business associations can advise you during the startup process free of charge.
• You can always hire experts to direct you or do much of the specialized work (accounting, for example) for you if you would rather focus on fishing for leads.
• Countless people have waded through the startup process successfully. You will, too.

Making big changes can cause anyone to feel a little nervous. Just stay focused on the next step, keep the big picture in mind, and make slow, deliberate moves.

Startup Costs

If you think that having limited cash flow is an insurmountable problem for your business, let me be the first to tell you that it could quite possibly improve your likelihood of success rather than detract from it. If that statement seems outrageous, consider the fact that a limited cash flow keeps you “hungry,” which feeds your determination and drive. It also allows you to realize a profit more quickly because you are not paying down large amounts of debt (or ideally, any). Seeing your bottom line turn from red to black builds both emotional and financial momentum quickly and can grease the proverbial wheels of your entrepreneurial endeavor during that first crucial year.

Unlike the purchase of an established franchise, being a Patchworker is founded on the premise of building your business at the pace that you determine to be appropriate, based on a number of factors, including your financial wherewithal. There are no big financial demands outside of some basic office equipment, an Internet connection, and a reliable mode of transportation.

Spend with Caution

I’m cautious when it comes to spending on business startup expenses. However, this wasn’t always the case. When I opened my first business, a national seminar company, I went straight to an office supply store and bought a fancy office chair, glass-top desks, a new computer, linen business cards, and more. I bought a multiline phone; ordered phone and fax lines; and purchased a fax machine, copier, and printer. I got the works!

I also went through my startup cash in a flash because my mentality was that in order to succeed I had to first pay out for these big-ticket items. I was under the impression that this was just what you “do” to get a business up and running, that the business wasn’t legitimate unless you had all of the equipment and supplies in place. This false assumption was a costly mistake. I learned, but it cost me. I spent that first year staring at the bottom line that was as red as an apple despite all the money coming in.

When I started my Patchwork business, however, I did the opposite. This time, I had zero dollars in startup cash—none. I had to earn it as I went. And do you know what happened? This time I spent wisely, out of necessity. What follows are some tricks that I learned along the way. Depending on your financial circumstances, the work you anticipate doing, and a number of other important factors, you may wish to minimize your costs or go all out on each of these expenditure categories. Whatever your intentions, make your first step a logical one by using the resources you might already have on hand and take inventory. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton uses this same tactic; here is a supposed excerpt from a staff meeting:

And it reminded me of what I occasionally sometimes do, which I call shopping in my closet, which means opening doors and seeing what I actually already have, which I really suggest to everybody, because it’s quite enlightening. (Laughter.) And so when you go to the store and you buy, let’s say, peanut butter and you don’t realize you’ve got two jars already at the back of the shelf—I mean, that sounds simplistic, but help us save money on stuff that we shouldn’t be wasting money on, and give us the chance to manage our resources to do more things...”²

Now think about your much-smaller-than-the-Department-of-State-budget that is available to start up your own business and apply Secretary Clinton’s strategy to your own business venture. Make the most of what you have in order to maximize the reach of your startup money. If you have no funds to speak of, then dig deep into the resources already on hand.

Checklist for Setting Up Shop

Are you ready? This is when you jump in and officially begin setting up shop for your new Patchwork business. Let’s discuss the following core components:

• Your office
• Office equipment
• Office supplies
• Business phone
• Web site
• Business identity

The following sections are dedicated to discussing the logistics and related considerations.

Your Office

Although it is absolutely necessary to set up an office somewhere, think carefully before committing to a lease. This expense can easily be your most costly fixed expense, so proceed with caution. The real questions to ask in determining if leasing a space is critical to your startup plan are these two:

• Will receiving clients into your office be a core piece of the work? For example, if you will be operating as a life coach for part of each day, then securing an office space may be necessary in order to make your clients feel comfortable. However, if you will be doing graphic design work, then perhaps a laptop and a café are all that you need to conduct successful client meetings. The acceptable norms of each industry are unique, and you have to determine for yourself what is appropriate for you, your business, and your clients. Also, keep in mind that the work you do may change over time as you identify viable sources of income and learn more about the type of work you most enjoy doing.
• Will working from home ultimately result in you sitting on the couch in your pajamas and watching infomercials for hours on end? In other words, if you know going in that you lack the discipline to focus on the work at hand and ignore the television, refrigerator, and other distractions, then you may want to consider leasing some space. However, remember that you will need to be a helluva lot more productive at bringing in business to cover the costs of your lease each month. Leasing can be exactly the right choice for some people, exactly the wrong choice for others. Proceed with caution; decide what’s right for you.

Ultimately, these choices boil down to two basic options: the home office or the leased space. Let’s take a moment to consider each in a bit more detail.

The Home Office Option

Keep in mind that for many Patchworkers, the work does not require receiving clients. Instead, you can maintain a home office for your own purposes but meet the client on-site, at an appropriate off-site location, or online via Skype or a similar video conferencing technology. For example, if your business will likely be working with clients via the Internet, then running a business from your home office seems tenable, keeping a few things in mind:

• Minimize noise pollution. If you will be speaking with your clients by telephone, you will need an area free of household noises in order to maintain a professional atmosphere. In other words, avoid a situation where an important meeting is interrupted because your dog starts barking wildly at the mailman.
• Create a conversation corner. If you will be talking to clients via video conferencing, be sure to create a neat, clean, and appropriately decorated area of your office that can be used for these virtual face-to-face (f2f) meetings. For example, in your home office you may wish to dedicate one corner to virtual f2f meetings, complete with a small table for a webcam, a comfortable chair, and a lamp that provides appropriate lighting. Be sure to evaluate any photos, artwork, or other decorations that would be in view of the client for appropriateness based on your industry. For example, if you are working within the music industry, having a framed KISS poster on the wall might be acceptable, but if you are working with a conservative group of economists, then perhaps that poster is best kept out of view. Remember, when you work with people in a virtual environment, these few images they see may be the only evidence they have available to build a mental picture of who you are in real time. Serve up the images with care.
• Look the part. Although you may be sitting around in your track suit all day long, it is important to dress and act the part of a professional when on camera. Clients will develop an image of who you are based on those brief on-camera interactions, so be prepared to dress and act the part of the consummate professional, however that is defined within your industry.

The home office option is the most affordable and most immediately available; however, it may or may not be the best choice for you depending on your circumstances. Consider working from home, but keep reading as the discussion turns to considering a leased office space.

The Leased Space Option

If your anticipated daily routine will require you to welcome clients to your office space, then you may wish to consider scouting for shared office space. This is a hot new trend among startups that allows you to lease office space in noteworthy, high-end commercial real estate locations on a month-to-month basis or on an annual contract.

However, it’s not just the space that you’re renting. The fee you pay includes a fully equipped office environment complete with the following desirable amenities:

• A high-profile business address for sending and receiving letters and packages
• A private, nicely furnished office space
• A receptionist to receive, screen, and forward your calls
• Local phone number and voicemail
• Access to a complete line of expensive office equipment and capabilities, including copier, fax, audio-visual equipment, and high-speed Internet access
• Luxurious, high-end meeting rooms such as board rooms or smaller conference rooms in addition to a lounge, café, and kitchen
• A fully trained, on-demand support staff (additional fees may apply)

Keep in mind that if you decide to leave this leased location, changing your business address and phone number months or years later can cost you clients. Those who call the defunct phone number or drop by your office only to find you have left the building may assume that you are out of business and not inquire further. If you do choose to start in a shared office space and move at any time, be sure to notify both your active and dormant clients.

Office Equipment

Whatever you do, don’t rush out and buy an expensive copier, printer, and fax machine on the first day you set up shop. These pieces of equipment are affordable and readily accessible at any local copy shop or office supply store. The per-piece price is higher, but the overall costs are significantly lower.

Outside of owning my own computer, which is mission critical, and some standard software, the nature of my work most often means that I am using my client’s equipment to carry out the work that I am doing for them. Owning my own office equipment is rarely necessary. But for the sake of convenience, over time I have purchased some used equipment through eBay and similar places for a fraction of the cost. Give yourself time to take inventory of what equipment you actually need before you run out and make any big purchases.

Office Supplies

One of my favorite places to go shopping is the office supply store. The entire place is full of fun tools and gadgets, and the air smells of pristine copy paper and wooden pencils. What can I say; I’m a teacher at heart. I can spend lots of time and money in those stores. The first time around with my seminar business, I sure did! I stocked up on everything from boxes of binder clips to stacks of Post-it Notes. However, the second time around I was wiser. I purchased only the items that I absolutely needed—and only as I needed them. Aside from perhaps a stapler and a few pens, the only mission critical office supply tool that you need is a calendar.

Now, many people will gasp at the mere mention of a paper calendar. Who uses such things in this day and age, right? Certainly not a cutting-edge professional! However, keep in mind that although electronic calendaring is surely wonderful (and I love Google Calendar), a sudden loss of data can spell catastrophe if you haven’t backed it up properly or recently.

I have a simple calendar that fits nicely in my business satchel, and I carry it with me everywhere. Many times, opening a paper calendar is more useful than an electronic one, such as when I’m talking with a client and he or she wants to glance at my calendar as we discuss upcoming meetings and deadlines. If you decide to maintain both an electronic calendar and a paper calendar, the redundancy is well worth the effort. Alternatively, you may choose to maintain only an electronic calendar and print out a daily or weekly snapshot as needed.

Business Phone Line

There is no way around it; you will need a business phone line. Using your home phone or personal cell phone to conduct business can lead to complications that may tarnish your reputation as a solid, full-time business professional. However, having a business line doesn’t necessarily have to be a big drain on your bottom line. Instead, you may wish to forego setting up a costly land line, at least initially. You can opt for something as inexpensive as a prepaid cell phone that includes voice mail. I ran my entire business with a T-Mobile prepaid cell phone for the first two years at a cost of about $200 per year, after which time I ported the number to a smartphone (for example, my iPhone) that could access the Internet and run advanced applications. This prepaid plan worked so well that it inspired several people I know to adopt this same strategy!

If you opt for a smartphone right from the start, you will have to weigh the costs of this costly overhead expense against its usefulness early on in the life of your business. The nature of your work will also drive how critical a smartphone is to you at this early juncture, including the ability to instantly reply to incoming e-mail messages, watch critical-to-your-business Internet sites in real time, utilize relevant business apps, and so on. Whichever option you choose, the bottom line is that having a dedicated phone line for your business is mission critical. It also prevents clients from ringing your home phone at odd hours of the night, weekends, holidays, or other times that would prove to be an unacceptable interruption to you or your family.

Web Site

Do you really need a Web site? A Web presence can be a costly business product to have designed and maintained for you. Keep in mind that you should refresh the content of your Web site regularly, which can be as often as once a day or as infrequently as once every few months, depending on the nature of your business and how integral this tool is to your overall identity in the virtual and face-to-face marketplace. Depending on the services you are selling to potential employers, you may opt out of this expense in the beginning or altogether. However, if you do choose to throw your hat into the virtual ring, here are some of the basics to get you started:

• Domain name: This is your business’s online real estate, and the same rule of thumb applies: location, location, location! Select a short, memorable, easy-to-spell, easy-to-speak domain name from those that are available (such as www.FunDesigns.com). You can browse the available names at a reseller such as Network Solutions (www.netsol.com). Prices vary depending on the reseller’s perceived value of the domain name. Ideally, you should purchase a domain name from the same company you plan to host with to avoid transfer fees, and you should purchase the .com, .net, and .biz domains (if available) to avoid any competition from parallel sites (such as www.fundesigns.com, www.fundesigns.net, www.fundesigns.biz). Be sure to register the site in your business’s name and use your corporate mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address to maintain your personal privacy.
• Hosting: For hosting purposes, I recommend that you host your Web site offsite through a reliable online provider. This eliminates the need to purchase and maintain your own Web server, which is costly and complicated. To save more money, opt for “shared” hosting instead of “dedicated” hosting. Shared hosting essentially means sharing a machine, known as a Web server, with a number of other Web sites.

  In other words, you share the cost of the server with other Web site owners as opposed to “dedicated” hosting, which means you rent the entire server. Dedicated hosting makes the most sense for high-volume Web sites, which is not the case for your business in its early stages, generally speaking. When shopping around, be sure to ask the hosting company the following questions:

  1. How many Web sites reside on each server?
  2. What is the volume of traffic seen by other sites on the server where your site would be hosted?
  3. What are the “uptime” guarantees and statistics?
  4. Does the company support the anticipated technical requirements of your Web site (Cold Fusion, Java, or Access, for example)?
  5. What are the setup fees or other initial costs? If month-to-month plans are available, which is the best option from a quality-control standpoint?

  Explore Google AdWords

  Many hosting plans offer new users a promotion that includes free Google AdWords credit. If you have this option, be sure to use the credit to explore advertising your business in search engine result ads. This option makes more sense for some products and services than others. Visit http://adwords.google.com for more information.

  Because hosting companies seem to appear and disappear quickly, I hesitate to recommend any one company. However, the well-respected CNET (www.cnet.com) is a good resource for up-to-date rankings of hosting companies.

  Choose the Month-to-Month Hosting Option

  Don’t let a few dollars in savings lure you into prepaying for a year of hosting service. Instead, choose the month-to-month plan just in case the service does not live up to your expectations.

• Design: If you choose to create a Web site and know your way around a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Web design program such as Adobe Dreamweaver or Microsoft FrontPage, then you may wish to shop at a template site. These online businesses offer intricately designed “canned” Web sites that include the corresponding .HTML, .PSD, .FLA, .SWF, or other relevant files you need to create and display your site. These canned Web sites are fully customizable with all of the code, layers, and script included for a flat rate. The site I recommend is Template Monster (www.templatemonster.com). I have purchased many templates from them for my own use and for my clients with great success. However, here are some words of caution:
  1. If having a unique Web site design is imperative to the strength of your business identity (if you are an artist, for example), then a template may not be the right approach.
  2. If you purchase a template that is beyond your skill level and need help troubleshooting or perhaps a bit of coaching, you must rely on live chat or the online help center. (Or if all else fails, you can open up a help desk ticket, but in my experience you are not able to speak with anyone by phone.)

  Template Monster sells practically every type of Web product, including Flash, SWISH, and e-commerce templates, to name a few. Keep in mind that the content of some Web site formats can be difficult for search engines to catalog, so do some research about this topic before making a final selection. You most definitely want the search engines to catalog and rank your Web site in order to increase the visibility of your business. That was the secret to the rapid growth of my seminar business early on.

  Test Drive Your Web Site Skill Set

  If you want to just mouse around and test your skill level at Web site design, or if you want to preview the organization of files, layers, and so on, Template Monster offers a free template that you can download from the home page.

• Optimization: Search engine optimization (SEO) is the business of embedding keywords and employing other strategies in order for your site to be ranked higher in the search results displayed by search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. SEO is referred to as “organic” improvement of a site in order to rise in the ranks, as opposed to paid marketing ads that appear alongside search results (Google AdWords, for example). Optimizing your site requires technical tweaks and enhancements in order to “place” well in the search engine rankings among other sites that market products or services similar to your own. This placement can be mission critical or completely irrelevant to your business depending on how much you depend on the search engines to drive visitors to your Web site. For the Patchworker, this is typically not critically important because you are actively seeking new accounts instead of passively waiting for them to find you. On the other hand, why not draw in any new lead that you can with your Web site, right? Every client counts.

Creating a Web site can be beneficial and in some cases even necessary, depending on the nature of your work. If you choose to create a Web site for your business, prepare for an initial learning curve, but know that it is possible for a beginner with a technology bent to acquire these skills and improve with time and practice. Maintaining full control of your Web site allows you to make both subtle and bold changes to your business identity at any time. Let’s take a look at various virtual and printed business identity items.

Business Identity

This checklist item of business identity is about developing a visual aid for clients in order to help them understand your business and the products or services you offer. Your business identity includes such tangible products as your logo, business card, online social media profile, and so on. Consider that you may work in multiple fields (programming and teaching, for example) and wish to brand each product or service you sell independently of the other, especially if the fields are completely unrelated. When you come at the marketplace with a portfolio of individual brands, this is called multibranding, whereby each brand has its own image. I use this approach, and it works very well for me. However, you do lose some momentum if you try to be too many things to too many people, so if you decide to take this approach, proceed with caution.

Let’s review the various printed and virtual materials that you can choose from in order to solidify your business identity in the marketplace.

Printed Materials

As a Patchworker, you may manage multiple brands for multiple areas of specialization, such as immigration work and computer work. And each brand that you put forth into the marketplace (ComputerPro, Inc., for example) requires some basic business identity products, such as business cards and stationery. However, forget the expensive graphic design firms or office supply print shops to initially get your brand(s) out into the marketplace. Instead, purchase business cards, matching stationery, and other necessary products from a reliable online print shop.

I highly recommend Vistaprint (www.vistaprint.com). This print shop is an amazing asset to any small business owner. You simply browse the thousands of preformatted layouts and choose one that suits your business. Just fill in the blanks of a business card, for example, and see an immediate rendition of the full-color product. For less than $10, you can have a box of 250 business cards printed and delivered to your door within days. You can’t beat it! Sign up for their mailing list to have promotions e-mailed to you offering discounts of as much as 90% off many popular products.

Along with business cards, take some time to browse the other matching business products, such as letterhead, envelopes, and greeting cards. Using the Vistaprint templates allows you to brand your newly founded company with quality business identity and promotional products in an instant—and for rock-bottom prices. I have ordered products from this company for ten years, sometimes 10,000 pieces at a time. The quality is always fantastic, and the customer service is excellent. Check them out and see for yourself.

Virtual Materials

Nearly every business can benefit in some way from creating a virtual profile on select social networking sites. These online communities present an opportunity to engage with both like-minded people and those with opposing views, with businesses that are similar as well as those that are complementary. All of these sites are free to use and can provide a greater exchange of ideas about any given topic than any networking event that you might ever attend. It is thrilling! Twitter (www.twitter.com) in particular is a wonderful way to exchange ideas, keep up with the latest trends in your field, and network with people in your area or halfway around the world.

Creating a virtual identity, also called a profile page, and navigating around the sites requires some dedicated time and effort. You must visit each site, create an account, populate it as necessary, learn your way around, and then acquaint yourself with the netiquette associated with each community. Although you have many sites to choose from, entrepreneurs benefit most from using the resources of Twitter and LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com).

Finally, you may wish to consider blogging about topics of interest to your potential customer base in order to further build your brand. This avenue can help you to stand out as an expert about a specific topic. To get started, register with a well-known blog hosting service provider such as Blogger (www.blogger.com) or WordPress (www.wordpress.com).

Setting up shop is the first step toward making your dream a reality! Have fun, spend wisely, and enjoy this part of the start-up process. It is a special time where your dreams and reality intersect and begin moving your business forward. If you feel overwhelmed by all the details that require your careful attention, simply prioritize and focus on one item at a time. Slow and steady wins the race.

Endnotes

¹ Carlye Adler, “Would You Pay $2 Million for This Franchise?” CNNMoney.com, http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb_archive/2002/05/01/322792/index.htm.

² Farhad Manjoo, “State Department Workers Want Firefox!” Farhad Manjoo’s page on the Internet, http://blog.farhadmanjoo.com/post/141748401/state-department-workers-want-firefox (accessed August 18, 2010).